Hardware Unable to update firmware [3004]

[js4711]

Hey guys.

I'm a bit in a pickle. I just bought a used PSP 3004 Datacode 0C without any games but with a 32 MB (wow!) MemoryStick Duo.
The installed firmware is 4.05.
I wanted to update to 6.60 but the flashfile is bigger than the MS. So I tried using the 6.0 firmware.
When I start the update via Games -> MS -> Firmware the PSP seems to reboot, accesses the MS but finaly fails saying "Couldn't start game" (Translated from German)
After that, I cannot access the MS anymore. I'd have to restart the PSP or remove and reinsert the MS.
I went ahead and bought a MicroSD -> MS PRO Duo adapter with a 16 GB SanDisk Class 10 microSD. The PSP could not format it though. When I insert it, it says "0 KB free space". Then I go to "format MS" but if fails to format the card and sais "No MS card inserted".
My guess is a bad firmware but I cannot update it. Also, I cannot connect to any of my WiFis. Even if I turn off encryption on my accesspoint, it always fails to connect and says "Please check encryption ... blah"
So no online update eigther.

I opended the device to check for any loose cables or defect parts (as far as one can see it), but found nothing.

Any clues?
Thanks.

 

[Deleted User]

why not just get a bigger MS pro duo? afaik 4gb cards are decently cheap

 

[js4711]

If I cannot update to 5.x or 6.0, my guess is that 6.60 wouldn't work either.
I don't want to spend more money on this device if it is broken :\
Any other idea what I could test? Does a stock 4.05 Version hav a recovery?

 

[Deleted User]

Manually format the microsd to fat32 with your computer and try again

 

[js4711]

Thank for your help, LiveLatios.
Sadly that doesn't work either. It still says "0 KB free space" when I insert the SD card.
Trying to format the stick ends up in "no MS inserted"
Do I have to have a goldcard for updating or something?

 

[Deleted User]

What's a goldcard? Also, now that i think of it... i think ofw 4.05 has a size limit somewhere around 2gb

 

[js4711]

Indeed, the behaviour changed when I resized my SD Card to 1024 MB.
Now the error is "Format failed 80220089"
So there is a movement here. But I don't want to buy an overpriced small MS just for updating :\
Nevermind the gold-card, I probably misread.
What about "MagicGate Support" - when I look up the info on my PSP it says "MagicGate: Unknown"

 

[Deleted User]

magicgate is only really used to say if the card if official, it only says yes if you use a real MS Pro Duo, also i'll look up that error for you

EDIT: try just formatting that 1024mb partition using your computer, and don't format using the psp, see if it still says 0kb

 

[js4711]

Okay, did that. I chose 2048, 1024, 512, 128 and 64MB
None of these settings work. I always create a logical partition with the above size at the beginning of the volume and format it with FAT.
When the PSP comes up it says: "The MS could not be read. Please Format [Settings] [System] etc"

 

[Deleted User]

I have no idea then.. i've only ever used legitimate memory sticks...

 

[js4711]

Okay, thank you very much for your help. Much appreciated.
I consider the device broken :\

 

[Deleted User]

It's probably not broken, there should be abnumber of cfws for 4.05

Edit: i had to re-read the issue to understand it more, i'm not sure if there's a fix for frankenfirmware on the psp

 

[js4711]

I'll go check if I find any CFW for 4.05. Already checked but only found infos I should upgrade to 5.X.
What is "frankenfirmware"? And what's to fix?

 

[Deleted User]

Frankenfirmware is a term used in the 3ds ecene where a firmware update goes wrong and you have parts of two kinds of firmware installed, might not be a thing for psp though